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The Queen and Kate 'talking more than ever' amid health scare
The Queen and Kate Middleton are said to be 'talking more than ever' as the royal family rallies around the monarch amid her health concerns.
The 95-year-old recently spent a night in hospital after undergoing "preliminary tests", and her family - including Prince George, eight, Princess Charlotte, six, and Prince Louis, three - have been especially supportive of her in the last few days.
"Kate sent the queen a huge bouquet of flowers from her family. George, Charlotte and Louis made ‘get well soon’ cards," an insider told Us Weekly, adding that the Queen and the Duchess of Cambridge have been "talking more than ever since [the] health scare".
The source also emphasised that Kate "has a special bond with the Queen" and the pair share "one-on-one phone conversations".
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In the decade since her royal wedding to Prince William, Kate has gone from a young wife with just a few royal responsibilities to being front and centre of many royal engagements.
Today, the Duchess is the royal patron of 18 charities, and tellingly, has taken over several directly from the Queen, including The Lawn Tennis Association, and The Royal Photographic Society.
News of the Queen and Kate's growing bond comes shortly after her Majesty had to 'regretfully' cancel her trip to Scotland to attend the UN's climate conference Cop26.
Buckingham Palace said in a statement: "Following advice to rest, The Queen has been undertaking light duties at Windsor Castle.
"Her Majesty has regretfully decided that she will no longer travel to Glasgow to attend the evening reception of COP26 on Monday, 1 November.
"Her Majesty is disappointed not to attend the reception but will deliver an address to the assembled delegates via a recorded video message."
Although she's now returned to Windsor Castle, the royals have been urging the Queen to "take it easy".
The insider explained to Us Weekly: "The Queen says she’s fine and doing well, but she’s said that before, so naturally [the family is] concerned. They’d been urging her to take it easy for months."
There had already been signs that Kate Middleton was ready to 'step into the Queen's inner circle'.
None more so than a few moments during Prince Philip's funeral in April of this year.
Kate arrived at the chapel by car on Saturday, standing outside until the Queen arrived and to pay her respects to Prince Philip’s passing coffin.
However, just before the Queen entered the church, she turned back in Kate Middleton, Camilla and Sophie Wessex’s direction, almost as if she didn’t want to go in alone without the three women.
Afterwards, royal biographer Brian Hoey claimed the move, among others, cemented Kate as the new ‘rock’ in the royal family.
"Thank God for Kate — she is the rock the monarchy will depend on. On Saturday, she behaved absolutely impeccably," he told The Sun.
Additional reporting by Bang Showbiz.
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